53 years ago today, Alan B Shepard Jr. became the first American in space.

The momentous occasion was sullied somewhat by the Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human in space a few weeks prior, but it was a momentous occasion nonetheless.

Shepard’s journey set in motion over five decades of exploration that has seen Nasa land men on the moon, explore the surface of Mars, reach the edge of the solar system and begin preparations for manned missions into deep space.

This image shows the view of astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. of Earth that no American had seen before, looking down on our home planet from the Freedom 7 Mercury capsule on his history-making suborbital flight. During the 15-minute flight, Shepard reported seeing the outline of the west coast of Florida

Around noon on 5 May 1961, Shepard was sat inside his Freedom 7 Mercury capsule.

He was about to embark on the first manned mission of Project Mercury - Nasa’s ambitious plan to test various aspects of space exploration for the first time.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPACEFLIGHT

12 April 1961 – First human in space (Yuri Gagarin)

5 May 1961 – First American in space (Alan Shepard)

16 June 1963 – First woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova)

21 July 1969 – First human on the moon (Neil Armstrong)

7 June 1971 – First manned space station (Soyuz 11/Salyut 1)

12 April 1981 – First manned space plane (Space Shuttle, STS-1)

20 November 1998 – Construction of the International Space Station begins

15 October 2003 – First Chinese taikonaut in space (Yang Liwei)

The programme was also intended to beat the Soviets to a number of ‘firsts’ such as the first human in space and first orbit.

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Ultimately the Soviet Union would claim early victories, getting the inaugural human into space and completing the first manned orbit.

But Project Mercury would prove to be the vital start Nasa needed to ultimately win the so-called space race by landing men on the moon.

After several hours waiting on the launchpad the Redstone rocket under Shepard's capsule, known officially as Mercury-Redstone 3, lifted off.

In total the flight lasted a little over 15 minutes and, while Shepard didn’t complete an orbit of Earth like his counterpart Gagarin, he did become the first human to actually pilot a spacecraft, as Gagarin’s flight was automated.

Although he didn't get a chance to say much during the flight, Shepard is known to have uttered 'what a beautiful view' as he gazed out of the window at Earth.

At a maximum speed of 5,134 miles (8,262 kilometres) per hour he reached a total height of 116.5 miles (187.5 kilometres) and travelled 302.8 miles (487.3 kilometres) down range from the launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida before safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

Unlike Gagarin he did not eject from his capsule on his return to Earth, leading some to regard Shepard as the first human to actually complete a spaceflight.

Nonetheless the progress since then has been astounding.

Nasa has become the foremost space exploration agency in the world, and continues to perform groundbreaking science across the solar system.

And they recently announced their plans to take humans to Mars for the first time in the 2030s, which by then will be over 70 years since Shepard's first flight.

On the left, Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 capsule is taken into space atop a Redstone rocket on 5 May 1961, the first American human spaceflight. On the right the latest manned spaceflight, Expedition 39, prepares for launch to the multi-billion dollar International Space Station on 26 March 2014

During the 9 April 1959 news conference that introduced the seven Mercury astronauts they were asked: 'Who wants to be the first man launched into space?' All seven raised their hands. From the left, are Donald Slayton, Alan Shepard, Wally Schirra, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Gordon Cooper and Scott Carpenter

How far we've come: Shepard's first view of Earth was a fleeting glimpse of the planet that lasted a few minutes. Now modern astronauts and cosmonauts work together on six-month stays aboard an orbiting laboratory, the ISS. Pictured is Tracy Caldwell Dyson in the Cupola module on 11 September 2010